Currently, Israel is a Middle Eastern country bordered mostly by Jordan, Egypt, and Palestine. Palestine is not yet an official country. The Palestinians occupy the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/israel502/images/501israel_map.gif Timeline 1897- The first Zionist congress was held on August 29 in Switzerland. Theodor Herzl was elected president of the newly founded World Zionist Organization
1916- The Sykes-Picot agreement was signed stating that France and Britain recognize Palestine, Jordan, and Iraq as mandates of Britain and Syria and Lebanon as French territory.
1917- The Balfour Declaration written by Arthur Balfour is sent to Lord Rothschild, president of the Zionist federation, declaring that he would approve of the creation of a nation home for Jews.
1948- Israel is declared an independent state with Chaim Weizmann as the first president of Israel. Many Jews immigrate to Israel to populate and settle the new homeland.
1948-49 War The Zionist Jews fought against British troops and the Palestinian Arabs, who opposed the establishment of Israel and considered it Arab territory. Egypt, Syria, Transjordan (later Jordan), Lebanon and Iraq invade Israel. Egypt claims territory in the south and Transjordan claims the West Bank of the Jordan River. The on and off fighting goes on until 1949, in which Israel advances and isolates Egyptian forces which lead to a cease-fire. As a result, 600,000 Palestinian Arabs fled from land under Israeli control, settling in refugee camps sponsored by the UN.
1956 War Egypt takes the Suez Canal, which was under British control. Supported by the French and Britain, Israel launches air and ground assault on Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, quickly defeating them. Israel captures the Gaza Strip and the Sharm El Sheikh. They end up giving the conquered territories to the UN and under global pressure, Israel retreats, leaving the canal to Egypt.
1964: Establishment of the PLO Palestinian officials erect the Palestine Liberation Organization as the impetus for the creation of an Arab Palestinian state. Initially, it was comprised of teachers, both the blue and white collared workers and guerilla fighters. Guerilla groups soon gained control of the organization, with the belief that the state of Palestine could only be achieved through military means. In 1969, Yasir Arafat became the chairman of the PLO. From the 60’s to the 70’s, terrorist attacks were carried out in opposition to Israel.
1967 War Egypt, prepared to begin battle with Israel with Soviet tanks and aircraft, closes the Gulf of Aqaba to Israel; Israel launches massive air assault, crippling the Arab air forces. They protect their ground forces, control the Sinai Peninsula, annex Jerusalem and gain Golan Heights and the West Bank. The Suez Canal is closed. Resolution 242 is created to establish just and lasting peace, resulting in Israel’s withdraw of its conquered territories.
1973-1974 War Egyptians secretly plan to ambush Israel. On October 6, 1973, Egyptian forces launch an assault eastward across the Suez Canal; the Syrians advance from the north, supported by Jordan, Libya and smaller Arab states. Israel forces Egypt and Syria past the cease-fire lines. Resolution 348, a modified version of Resolution 242, establishes peace between the involved parties.
Camp David Accords President Anwar Sadat of Egypt visits holy city of Jerusalem and wants to arrange a truce between Egypt and Israel. In 1978, United States President Jimmy Carter invites Sadat and Israel Prime Minister Menichem Begin to presidential cabin, Camp David, to create a peace treaty between both parties (Israel and Egypt). Camp David Accords is established and ends 30 years of hostility between Egypt and Israel; Egypt is the first Arab state to recognize Israel as a state. Egypt is suspended from Arab League for the next decade. Though praised by other world leaders, Sadat enrages the Arab community and is assassinated by a group of Muslim extremists in 1981. His successor, Hosni Mubarak, assumes the role of upholding peace between Egypt and Israel.
1982 War Palestinian guerillas launch an air assault on Israel. Israel goes to war to disband guerilla bases. Defense Minister Ariel Sharon takes it as far as Beirut and expels PLO from the country, but retreats after getting entangled in Lebanon’s civil war. Assassination attempt on Ambassador London Schlomo Argov by Palestinian group Abu Nidal was the incentive to pull out troops and civilians out of the Sinai Peninsula.
Oslo Peace Accords Palestinians create a nationwide campaign called the “intifada” (meaning “uprising”) and create a string of boycotts, protests and assaults on Israeli soldiers. These string of events impact the global opinion and the world puts pressure on Israel to compromise with the Palestinians. From October 1991, Israel and Palestine meet for peace talks. 1993 discrete discussions in Oslo, Norway produce the document the “Oslo Peace Accords”. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel permits Palestinian self rule in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The document was signed by PLO Chairman Yasir Arafat of Palestine and Rabin on September 13, 1993. Rabin was assassinated by a right winged Jewish extremist in 1995 and succeeded by Benjamin Netanyahu, who-- like Hosni Mubarak to Anwar Sadat-- continued to negotiate with Arafat to make a peaceful relation between Israel and Palestine.
September 11, 2001: Terrorists attack the United States and knock down the Twin Towers. In response, Palestinians celebrate the misfortune of the U.S. in the streets of Gaza and the West Bank. The Palestinians have come to dislike the United States because they believe the U.S. sides too much with Israel and not enough with Palestine.
2002: West Bank. After Palestinian attacks on the Jewish Holiday of Passover, the Israelis decided to re-occupy the West Bank. Israel brought on months of closures and curfews, and began to build a barrier between the West Bank and Israeli to prevent further attacks. However, Palestinians continued to attack Israel, and Israel responded with many sieges of Palestine.
2011:Israeli Expansion. After Palestine’s application to be a legitimate state was accepted by the United Nations, Israel announced its plan to build 1,100 new houses on the edge of Jerusalem. This act angered many people. Several countries believe that this act goes against international law. Because of this, Palestine tried to suspend established peace talks until Israel stopped their expansion project. Even with this information, Israel wants to build new settlements in Jerusalem anyway.
September 2011: Palestine is granted statehood in the UN organization UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Social, and Cultural Organization), against the wishes of Israel, the United States of America, and several other countries.
Key Personnel Chaim Weizmann - The first president of Israel and a Zionist leader who worked in conjunction with president Harry S. Truman to gain the United states support of the formation of Israel. Weizmann was born a Russian Jew and also was a chemist who was instrumental in developing early artillery shells.
Shimon Peres - The ninth and current president of Israel and also a recipient of the Nobel peace prize in 1994 for his honorable peace talks. He is also the author of 11 books. Shimon Peres was appointed head of Israel's navy and at the war’s end, became the Director of the Defense Ministry's delegation in the United States. When he was in the United States, he studied at the New York
School for Social Research and at Harvard.
Theodor Herzel - Recognized as the founder of Zionism. He predicted that the formation of a Jewish state would bring an end to anti-semitism.In 1894 as a newspaper correspondent, Herzl witnessed the Dreyfus affair. The Dreyfus Affair was the unjust persecution of Pierre Dreyfus by the French government. According to some accounts, his Zionist beleifs resulted from contemplating the persecution of Dreyfus.
Graphics This is a political cartoon depicting the threats symbolized by the missiles on the right which represent the global antisemitism stirred up by world war 2. The left side missiles represents the Hamas which employs violence and terror in order to destroy the state of Israel and replace it with an Islamic state.
Primary Source Survival is Not Enough contains a small selection from amongst the thousands of pages I've written since that awful day, June 6, 1982, the day my son, Yaron, was killed at the Beaufort Castle on the first day of the Lebanon War. June 1982 And on that fateful day, I sat by the extruder machine in the Tel-Dor factory. At that very place and it was 7 AM. Yechiel and Shraga walked up to me and I became frozen still. Everything came to a halt. Even my heart nearly stopped beating. Yechiel said one only word, "Yaron", and it was all over. Leaning on these two for support, I walked slowly home where I would try to pass on to Ramah this bitter news. And nothing can compare to a mother's reaction. She wailed and wailed until she had no strength left to wail any longer. And friends started arriving at our house, trying to surround us with love and console us - as if that were possible. I can't go on describing these hard, terrible days of burning pain over the loss of a young life and of the awful, frustrated feeling that this war was not a necessary one. This whole war won't do a thing except turn more people into refugees and cause suffering to the thousands of families who will see their loved ones wounded and their children taken from them.
And back to you, Yaron. Will I ever really get to know you, ever gather together all my memories and all that was you.
The longest days of the year.
The sun rises and sets, the sky fire-red, blood-red. The special, ominous glow in the sky. Once, when everything was normal -- when I was still hopeful and optimistic -- the skies were full of beauty and hope. Now, they are an almost apocalyptic reminder: In the red of the skies, I see the fire of Holocaust furnaces and tanks bursting into flames...
Today, at 7 AM, Yechiel and Shraga walked up to me again and told me that my niece's husband, Gal, was killed! How long can this go on? June 25, 1982 The slaughter goes on day after day. How can we live like this? And at the same time, the mothers, wives, and children around me look at me and wonder about the fate of their loved-ones, somewhere over there...and the not-knowing and the anxiety ravenously eat away at them. The uselessness and senselessness of it all - am I getting this message through to them, too? I know that life must go on. My question is, "How?". I can't bring back Yaron. Did I really give him everything I could have.
Soon, we'll be receiving the army gravestone for Yaron's grave.
A macabre thought. It shouldn't be too hard. The Israeli army must have a warehouse stocked with carved stones, with the inscription already on them, "_, of blessed memory, fell in Lebanon in the War for Peace in the Galilee".
Doesn't it make sense to try a joint project with Raya Harnick? She's a programming editor on the radio and I'm a photographer and video cameraman. Maybe a documentary, about how the six boys who fell at the Beaufort Castle grew up, and about whether it could have been avoided? And about how we can go on raising sons in this country?...And speaking of the idea of recalling the six who fell, should it just be about these six? You see, when you get right down to it, although each of the six risked his life, and despite our wish to pay respect to the sons who are no longer with us, everyone who fought there deserves just as much! Where are the educators and psychologists to help me understand where we went wrong with their education?...And what are we doing now? What have we not done that we will be able to do in the future?
...and I'm honest with myself. Would I have stood up and walked out of my anonymity had I not been personally stricken? And where was I after the Yom Kippur War, when four members of my kibbutz were killed? http://books.eserver.org/nonfiction/survival/diary.html/document_view
Yehoshua Zamir was a peace loving man who believed that peace is a theme central to Zionist beliefs. On June 6 1982, Zamir’s son was killed. It was the first day of the Lebanon War. This Dairy illustrates the horrors that so many innocent people were forced to experience during the course of the Arab wars. Video Please click on the link below to watch.
Palestine and Israel are constantly at risk of attacking each other. People from all over Israel, sometimes called Hill People, have made a picnic of this fighting ever since the war began. These people go out to a cliff on the border of Israel and Gaza to watch the fighting and explosions going on around them. Some people even bring food, chairs, and binoculars with them to the cliff. Many people in Israel wish that the fighting will stop soon, and there will be some kind of peace between Israel and Palestine. News Article Please read the article below.
The rest of the world has been trying to create peace between Israel and Palestine through formal negotiations. Every time an attempt is made, something always gets in the way. At one point Palestine wouldn’t talk to Israel unless Israel stopped trying to expand its borders and put settlements in Jerusalem. Peace talks did occur in January of 2012 in Jordan, even though not very much new information was exchanged between the two countries, and not a lot of progress was made.
An Israeli soldier named Gilad Shalit, captured by Palestinians in June of 2006, was released 5 years later in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners held by the Israelis. In this video, one can see how much tention there is between Israel and Palestine, and how one of those two groups of people can snap at any time. Prisoners were released to both sides, and instead of being grateful, both sides started to accuse each other of mistreating the captives.
News Article
Below is an excerpt of an article published in the New York Times regarding the acceptance of Palestine into the United Nation committee of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization).
PARIS — __Palestine__ became the 195th full member of __Unesco__ on Monday, as the United Nations organization defied a mandated cutoff of American funds under federal legislation from the 1990s. The vote of Unesco’s full membership was 107 to 14, with 52 abstentions. The step will cost the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization one-quarter of its yearly budget — the 22 percent contributed by the United States (about $70 million) plus another 3 percent contributed by __Israel__. Victoria Nuland, a State Department spokeswoman, said that American contributions to Unesco, including $60 million scheduled for this month, would not be paid. Cheers filled the hall at Unesco’s headquarters here after the vote, with one delegate shouting, “Long live Palestine!” in French. The Palestinian foreign minister, Riad al-Malki, praised the organization, saying that “this vote will help erase a tiny part of the injustice done to the Palestinian people” and that it would help protect world heritage sites in Israeli-occupied territory. In a long speech, Mr. Malki said that “this membership will be the best step toward peace and stability,” insisting that the Palestinian request for membership in Unesco was “linked in no way to our request to join the United Nations.” The Obama administration, which values its membership in Unesco, tried unsuccessfully to keep the vote from taking place, while __Irina Bokova__, the American-supported director general of the organization, traveled to Washington to meet with Congressional leaders and ask them to alter the law. Legislation dating from 1990 and 1994 mandates a complete cutoff of American financing to any United Nations agency that accepts the Palestinians as a full member. State Department lawyers see no leeway in the legislation, and no possibility of a waiver. The American ambassador to the organization, David T. Killion, repeatedly called the vote on Monday “premature” and said the United States would seek other means to support the agency, though he did not offer specifics. The United States argues that United Nations agencies should wait for a resolution of the Palestinians’ application for full membership in the United Nations as a whole. Palestinian statehood should emerge from negotiations with Israel, not from acts by third parties or international groups, Washington argues; otherwise United Nations membership will change little for Palestinians on the ground. Arab diplomats say that the American position is a bit disingenuous, since Washington has maneuvered to try to prevent the Palestinians from getting the necessary 9 votes in the 15-seat Security Council, and would use its veto there if they did. The announcement on Monday by Bosnia, which currently has a seat on the Council, that it would abstain appeared to deny the Palestinians the chance for nine yes votes, making an American veto appear unnecessary.
Ever since Palestine was created, it was never recognized as a state, until now. The UN organization of UNESCO recently voted to give statehood to Palestine, which pleased some, but angered others. Both the U.S. and Israel threatened stop funding UNESCO, and combined both countries contributions to the organization make up 25% of the yearly budget. The U.S. also says that they will never let Palestine obtain full statehood through the Security Council, because they have veto power. This means that any time a resolution passes in the Security Council, the U.S. (and a few other countries) have the power to veto it, so that it can not pass. By doing this, the U.S. is alone controlling whether or not the Palestinians can have to ability to become a state recognized by the UN. As a full state, the Palestinians would be able to vote on any resolution in any committee that they are a member of, therefore having a say in worldly affairs. The U.S. will not allow Palestine to have this privilege.
Summary
The Israel-Palestine area was under Arab-Ottoman rule until the Sykes-Picot agreement which stated that Britain would gain control over the Palestine region as well as other nearby areas. Following the Balfour Declaration, in which Britain stated its approval of the Zionist ideals and approved the creation of Israel, Britain pushed the Arabs out in order allow for the creation of Israel as a national homeland for the Jews lead by President Chaim Weizmann. Promptly after many Jews began there immigration to the newly created homeland.Following the formation of Israel, Arab states such as Egypt, Syria, Transjordan (now known as Jordan), Lebanon and Iraq invade Israel with the belief that the territory was originally belonged to the Arabs. Egypt and Transjordan claim the West Bank of the Jordan River and southern territory. The fighting continues until 1949, when Israel defeats Egypt. Egypt strikes back in 1956 with the capture of the Suez Canal from Britain. Israel attacks and claims the Gaza Strip and the Sharm El Sheikh. The claimed territories are then handed over to the UN. Israel retreats and leaves the canal to Egypt. In 1964, the Palestinian Liberal Organization is established to emphasize the creation of a Palestinian state. At first, it consisted of everyday laborers and teachers, but quickly fell into guerilla control. Several terrorist attacks were carried out between the ‘60’s and ‘70’s against Israel. In 1967, Egypt closes the Gulf of Aqaba, Israel’s access to the Red Sea, prompting Israel to go to war against them. Israel attacks with both ground and air forces. They gain control of the Sinai Peninsula, take back Jerusalem, and get the Golan Heights and West Bank. The Suez Canal is closed. Resolution 242 is put in place to establish peace and Israel withdraws its conquests. In 1973, Egypt ambushes Israel during Yom Kippur (one of the holiest Jewish holidays); Israel pushes the Egyptian soldiers past the cease-fire lines. Resolution 348, a modified version of Resolution 242, is put into place to establish peace between the opposing parties. In 1977, President Anwar Sadat visits Jerusalem and wishes to reconcile with Israel. The following year, President Jimmy Carter invites him and Israel Prime Minister Menichem Begin to Camp David (a presidential weekend retreat) to create and sign a treaty. The Camp David Accords is formed and signed, ending 30 years of hostility between Israel and Egypt and promising the recognition of Israel as a state. In 1982, Palestinian guerillas launch an air assault on Israel; Prime Minister Ariel Sharon responds by driving the PLO out of Israel all the way to Beirut, Lebanon. Palestinian civil disobedience campaign, the intifada, is the incentive for Israel to negotiate with the Palestinians. In 1995, the Oslo Peace Accords is created and is signed by PLO chairman Yasir Arafat and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Despite all of this fighting, Israel has remained a small country that lies in between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. It is also bordered by many other Arab nations. After the collapse of the Twin Towers on September 9, 2001, the Palestinians showed their dislike for the U.S. by celebrating in the streets. Palestinians and Israelis continue to fight even into the 21st century, and there are some people who have become so accustom to the fighting that they go out everyday on a cliff to watch the explosions on both sides. As the fighting continues, the rest of the world tries to make peace between these two groups of people. Recently, peace talks were held in Jordan, but both Israel and Palestine always try to find an excuse for not talking to each other. Palestine recently said that if Israel did not stop trying to create new settlements in Jerusalem, it would stop the peace talks; Israel continued to expand. One tragic outcome from these conflicts has to do with soldier named Gilad Shalit. He was captured five years ago and finally returned home in 2011 in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners. The whole time this fighting was going on, Palestine was not an official country or state. It applied to statehood with the United Nations and has only been excepted into one committee, UNESCO. One way that the U.S. is exerting its enormous power in the UN and controlling Palestine’s fate is by saying that they will not let any resolution pass through the Security Council that makes Palestine a full official country. The U.S. is legally allowed to control the privileges of Palestine and make it so they can never have the right to vote in the most of the UN. The U.S. can not control UNESCO, but they can control the Security Council. The Israel-Palestine conflict has been going on for about six decades now, and many nations can only hope that it will end soon.
http://www.leedspsc.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2009/11/israel-palestine-map.jpg
Current Map of Israel-Palestine
Currently, Israel is a Middle Eastern country bordered mostly by Jordan, Egypt, and Palestine. Palestine is not yet an official country. The Palestinians occupy the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/israel502/images/501israel_map.gif
Timeline
1897- The first Zionist congress was held on August 29 in Switzerland. Theodor Herzl was elected president of the newly founded World Zionist Organization
1916- The Sykes-Picot agreement was signed stating that France and Britain recognize Palestine, Jordan, and Iraq as mandates of Britain and Syria and Lebanon as French territory.
1917- The Balfour Declaration written by Arthur Balfour is sent to Lord Rothschild, president of the Zionist federation, declaring that he would approve of the creation of a nation home for Jews.
1948- Israel is declared an independent state with Chaim Weizmann as the first president of Israel. Many Jews immigrate to Israel to populate and settle the new homeland.
1948-49 War
The Zionist Jews fought against British troops and the Palestinian Arabs, who opposed the establishment of Israel and considered it Arab territory. Egypt, Syria, Transjordan (later Jordan), Lebanon and Iraq invade Israel. Egypt claims territory in the south and Transjordan claims the West Bank of the Jordan River. The on and off fighting goes on until 1949, in which Israel advances and isolates Egyptian forces which lead to a cease-fire. As a result, 600,000 Palestinian Arabs fled from land under Israeli control, settling in refugee camps sponsored by the UN.
1956 War
Egypt takes the Suez Canal, which was under British control. Supported by the French and Britain, Israel launches air and ground assault on Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, quickly defeating them. Israel captures the Gaza Strip and the Sharm El Sheikh. They end up giving the conquered territories to the UN and under global pressure, Israel retreats, leaving the canal to Egypt.
1964: Establishment of the PLO
Palestinian officials erect the Palestine Liberation Organization as the impetus for the creation of an Arab Palestinian state. Initially, it was comprised of teachers, both the blue and white collared workers and guerilla fighters. Guerilla groups soon gained control of the organization, with the belief that the state of Palestine could only be achieved through military means. In 1969, Yasir Arafat became the chairman of the PLO. From the 60’s to the 70’s, terrorist attacks were carried out in opposition to Israel.
1967 War
Egypt, prepared to begin battle with Israel with Soviet tanks and aircraft, closes the Gulf of Aqaba to Israel; Israel launches massive air assault, crippling the Arab air forces. They protect their ground forces, control the Sinai Peninsula, annex Jerusalem and gain Golan Heights and the West Bank. The Suez Canal is closed. Resolution 242 is created to establish just and lasting peace, resulting in Israel’s withdraw of its conquered territories.
1973-1974 War
Egyptians secretly plan to ambush Israel. On October 6, 1973, Egyptian forces launch an assault eastward across the Suez Canal; the Syrians advance from the north, supported by Jordan, Libya and smaller Arab states. Israel forces Egypt and Syria past the cease-fire lines. Resolution 348, a modified version of Resolution 242, establishes peace between the involved parties.
Camp David Accords
President Anwar Sadat of Egypt visits holy city of Jerusalem and wants to arrange a truce between Egypt and Israel. In 1978, United States President Jimmy Carter invites Sadat and Israel Prime Minister Menichem Begin to presidential cabin, Camp David, to create a peace treaty between both parties (Israel and Egypt). Camp David Accords is established and ends 30 years of hostility between Egypt and Israel; Egypt is the first Arab state to recognize Israel as a state. Egypt is suspended from Arab League for the next decade. Though praised by other world leaders, Sadat enrages the Arab community and is assassinated by a group of Muslim extremists in 1981. His successor, Hosni Mubarak, assumes the role of upholding peace between Egypt and Israel.
1982 War
Palestinian guerillas launch an air assault on Israel. Israel goes to war to disband guerilla bases. Defense Minister Ariel Sharon takes it as far as Beirut and expels PLO from the country, but retreats after getting entangled in Lebanon’s civil war. Assassination attempt on Ambassador London Schlomo Argov by Palestinian group Abu Nidal was the incentive to pull out troops and civilians out of the Sinai Peninsula.
Oslo Peace Accords
Palestinians create a nationwide campaign called the “intifada” (meaning “uprising”) and create a string of boycotts, protests and assaults on Israeli soldiers. These string of events impact the global opinion and the world puts pressure on Israel to compromise with the Palestinians. From October 1991, Israel and Palestine meet for peace talks. 1993 discrete discussions in Oslo, Norway produce the document the “Oslo Peace Accords”. Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin of Israel permits Palestinian self rule in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The document was signed by PLO Chairman Yasir Arafat of Palestine and Rabin on September 13, 1993. Rabin was assassinated by a right winged Jewish extremist in 1995 and succeeded by Benjamin Netanyahu, who-- like Hosni Mubarak to Anwar Sadat-- continued to negotiate with Arafat to make a peaceful relation between Israel and Palestine.
September 11, 2001: Terrorists attack the United States and knock down the Twin Towers. In response, Palestinians celebrate the misfortune of the U.S. in the streets of Gaza and the West Bank. The Palestinians have come to dislike the United States because they believe the U.S. sides too much with Israel and not enough with Palestine.
2002: West Bank. After Palestinian attacks on the Jewish Holiday of Passover, the Israelis decided to re-occupy the West Bank. Israel brought on months of closures and curfews, and began to build a barrier between the West Bank and Israeli to prevent further attacks. However, Palestinians continued to attack Israel, and Israel responded with many sieges of Palestine.
2011:Israeli Expansion. After Palestine’s application to be a legitimate state was accepted by the United Nations, Israel announced its plan to build 1,100 new houses on the edge of Jerusalem. This act angered many people. Several countries believe that this act goes against international law. Because of this, Palestine tried to suspend established peace talks until Israel stopped their expansion project. Even with this information, Israel wants to build new settlements in Jerusalem anyway.
September 2011: Palestine is granted statehood in the UN organization UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Social, and Cultural Organization), against the wishes of Israel, the United States of America, and several other countries.
Key Personnel
Chaim Weizmann - The first president of Israel and a Zionist leader who worked in conjunction with president Harry S. Truman to gain the United states support of the formation of Israel. Weizmann was born a Russian Jew and also was a chemist who was instrumental in developing early artillery shells.
Shimon Peres - The ninth and current president of Israel and also a recipient of the Nobel peace prize in 1994 for his honorable peace talks. He is also the author of 11 books. Shimon Peres was appointed head of Israel's navy and at the war’s end, became the Director of the Defense Ministry's delegation in the United States. When he was in the United States, he studied at the New York
School for Social Research and at Harvard.
Theodor Herzel - Recognized as the founder of Zionism. He predicted that the formation of a Jewish state would bring an end to anti-semitism.In 1894 as a newspaper correspondent, Herzl witnessed the Dreyfus affair. The Dreyfus Affair was the unjust persecution of Pierre Dreyfus by the French government. According to some accounts, his Zionist beleifs resulted
from contemplating the persecution of Dreyfus.
Graphics
This is a political cartoon depicting the threats symbolized by the
missiles on the right which represent the global antisemitism stirred up by world war 2. The left side missiles represents the Hamas which employs violence and terror in order to destroy the state of Israel and replace it with an Islamic state.
http://ivarfjeld.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/israel-under-rocket-fire.jpg
-Israeli scene of the Negev Desert
__http://www.myworldshots.com/p1/m/Israel/Negev-Desert/Israel-Landscape-of-Negev-Desert-765.jpg__
Primary Source
Survival is Not Enough contains a small selection from amongst the thousands of pages I've written since that awful day, June 6, 1982, the day my son, Yaron, was killed at the Beaufort Castle on the first day of the Lebanon War.
June 1982
And on that fateful day, I sat by the extruder machine in the Tel-Dor factory. At that very place and it was 7 AM. Yechiel and Shraga walked up to me and I became frozen still. Everything came to a halt. Even my heart nearly stopped beating. Yechiel said one only word, "Yaron", and it was all over. Leaning on these two for support, I walked slowly home where I would try to pass on to Ramah this bitter news. And nothing can compare to a mother's reaction. She wailed and wailed until she had no strength left to wail any longer. And friends started arriving at our house, trying to surround us with love and console us - as if that were possible. I can't go on describing these hard, terrible days of burning pain over the loss of a young life and of the awful, frustrated feeling that this war was not a necessary one. This whole war won't do a thing except turn more people into refugees and cause suffering to the thousands of families who will see their loved ones wounded and their children taken from them.
And back to you, Yaron. Will I ever really get to know you, ever gather together all my memories and all that was you.
The longest days of the year.
The sun rises and sets, the sky fire-red, blood-red. The special, ominous glow in the sky. Once, when everything was normal -- when I was still hopeful and optimistic -- the skies were full of beauty and hope. Now, they are an almost apocalyptic reminder: In the red of the skies, I see the fire of Holocaust furnaces and tanks bursting into flames...
Today, at 7 AM, Yechiel and Shraga walked up to me again and told me that my niece's husband, Gal, was killed! How long can this go on?
June 25, 1982
The slaughter goes on day after day. How can we live like this? And at the same time, the mothers, wives, and children around me look at me and wonder about the fate of their loved-ones, somewhere over there...and the not-knowing and the anxiety ravenously eat away at them. The uselessness and senselessness of it all - am I getting this message through to them, too? I know that life must go on. My question is, "How?". I can't bring back Yaron. Did I really give him everything I could have.
Soon, we'll be receiving the army gravestone for Yaron's grave.
A macabre thought. It shouldn't be too hard. The Israeli army must have a warehouse stocked with carved stones, with the inscription already on them, "_, of blessed memory, fell in Lebanon in the War for Peace in the Galilee".
Doesn't it make sense to try a joint project with Raya Harnick? She's a programming editor on the radio and I'm a photographer and video cameraman. Maybe a documentary, about how the six boys who fell at the Beaufort Castle grew up, and about whether it could have been avoided? And about how we can go on raising sons in this country?...And speaking of the idea of recalling the six who fell, should it just be about these six? You see, when you get right down to it, although each of the six risked his life, and despite our wish to pay respect to the sons who are no longer with us, everyone who fought there deserves just as much! Where are the educators and psychologists to help me understand where we went wrong with their education?...And what are we doing now? What have we not done that we will be able to do in the future?
...and I'm honest with myself. Would I have stood up and walked out of my anonymity had I not been personally stricken? And where was I after the Yom Kippur War, when four members of my kibbutz were killed?
http://books.eserver.org/nonfiction/survival/diary.html/document_view
Yehoshua Zamir was a peace loving man who believed that peace is a theme central to Zionist beliefs. On June 6 1982, Zamir’s son was killed. It was the first day of the Lebanon War. This Dairy illustrates the horrors that so many innocent people were forced to experience during the course of the Arab wars.
Video
Please click on the link below to watch.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123136613816062175.html#articleTabs%3Dvideo
Palestine and Israel are constantly at risk of attacking each other. People from all over Israel, sometimes called Hill People, have made a picnic of this fighting ever since the war began. These people go out to a cliff on the border of Israel and Gaza to watch the fighting and explosions going on around them. Some people even bring food, chairs, and binoculars with them to the cliff. Many people in Israel wish that the fighting will stop soon, and there will be some kind of peace between Israel and Palestine.
News Article
Please read the article below.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/10/world/middleeast/israelis-and-palestinians-discuss-peace-talks-in-jordan.html
The rest of the world has been trying to create peace between Israel and Palestine through formal negotiations. Every time an attempt is made, something always gets in the way. At one point Palestine wouldn’t talk to Israel unless Israel stopped trying to expand its borders and put settlements in Jerusalem. Peace talks did occur in January of 2012 in Jordan, even though not very much new information was exchanged between the two countries, and not a lot of progress was made.
Video
Please watch below.
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/10/18/world/middleeast/100000001120445/timescast--gilad-shalit-freed.html
An Israeli soldier named Gilad Shalit, captured by Palestinians in June of 2006, was released 5 years later in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners held by the Israelis. In this video, one can see how much tention there is between Israel and Palestine, and how one of those two groups of people can snap at any time. Prisoners were released to both sides, and instead of being grateful, both sides started to accuse each other of mistreating the captives.
News Article
Below is an excerpt of an article published in the New York Times regarding the acceptance of Palestine into the United Nation committee of UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization).
Unesco Accepts Palestinians as Full Members
By __STEVEN ERLANGER__ and SCOTT SAYARE
Published: October 31, 2011
PARIS — __Palestine__ became the 195th full member of __Unesco__ on Monday, as the United Nations organization defied a mandated cutoff of American funds under federal legislation from the 1990s. The vote of Unesco’s full membership was 107 to 14, with 52 abstentions.
The step will cost the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization one-quarter of its yearly budget — the 22 percent contributed by the United States (about $70 million) plus another 3 percent contributed by __Israel__. Victoria Nuland, a State Department spokeswoman, said that American contributions to Unesco, including $60 million scheduled for this month, would not be paid.
Cheers filled the hall at Unesco’s headquarters here after the vote, with one delegate shouting, “Long live Palestine!” in French. The Palestinian foreign minister, Riad al-Malki, praised the organization, saying that “this vote will help erase a tiny part of the injustice done to the Palestinian people” and that it would help protect world heritage sites in Israeli-occupied territory.
In a long speech, Mr. Malki said that “this membership will be the best step toward peace and stability,” insisting that the Palestinian request for membership in Unesco was “linked in no way to our request to join the United Nations.”
The Obama administration, which values its membership in Unesco, tried unsuccessfully to keep the vote from taking place, while __Irina Bokova__, the American-supported director general of the organization, traveled to Washington to meet with Congressional leaders and ask them to alter the law.
Legislation dating from 1990 and 1994 mandates a complete cutoff of American financing to any United Nations agency that accepts the Palestinians as a full member. State Department lawyers see no leeway in the legislation, and no possibility of a waiver.
The American ambassador to the organization, David T. Killion, repeatedly called the vote on Monday “premature” and said the United States would seek other means to support the agency, though he did not offer specifics.
The United States argues that United Nations agencies should wait for a resolution of the Palestinians’ application for full membership in the United Nations as a whole. Palestinian statehood should emerge from negotiations with Israel, not from acts by third parties or international groups, Washington argues; otherwise United Nations membership will change little for Palestinians on the ground.
Arab diplomats say that the American position is a bit disingenuous, since Washington has maneuvered to try to prevent the Palestinians from getting the necessary 9 votes in the 15-seat Security Council, and would use its veto there if they did. The announcement on Monday by Bosnia, which currently has a seat on the Council, that it would abstain appeared to deny the Palestinians the chance for nine yes votes, making an American veto appear unnecessary.
Full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/01/world/middleeast/unesco-approves-full-membership-for-palestinians.html?pagewanted=all
Ever since Palestine was created, it was never recognized as a state, until now. The UN organization of UNESCO recently voted to give statehood to Palestine, which pleased some, but angered others. Both the U.S. and Israel threatened stop funding UNESCO, and combined both countries contributions to the organization make up 25% of the yearly budget. The U.S. also says that they will never let Palestine obtain full statehood through the Security Council, because they have veto power. This means that any time a resolution passes in the Security Council, the U.S. (and a few other countries) have the power to veto it, so that it can not pass. By doing this, the U.S. is alone controlling whether or not the Palestinians can have to ability to become a state recognized by the UN. As a full state, the Palestinians would be able to vote on any resolution in any committee that they are a member of, therefore having a say in worldly affairs. The U.S. will not allow Palestine to have this privilege.
Summary
The Israel-Palestine area was under Arab-Ottoman rule until the Sykes-Picot agreement which stated that Britain would gain control over the Palestine region as well as other nearby areas. Following the Balfour Declaration, in which Britain stated its approval of the Zionist ideals and approved the creation of Israel, Britain pushed the Arabs out in order allow for the creation of Israel as a national homeland for the Jews lead by President Chaim Weizmann. Promptly after many Jews began there immigration to the newly created homeland. Following the formation of Israel, Arab states such as Egypt, Syria, Transjordan (now known as Jordan), Lebanon and Iraq invade Israel with the belief that the territory was originally belonged to the Arabs. Egypt and Transjordan claim the West Bank of the Jordan River and southern territory. The fighting continues until 1949, when Israel defeats Egypt. Egypt strikes back in 1956 with the capture of the Suez Canal from Britain. Israel attacks and claims the Gaza Strip and the Sharm El Sheikh. The claimed territories are then handed over to the UN. Israel retreats and leaves the canal to Egypt. In 1964, the Palestinian Liberal Organization is established to emphasize the creation of a Palestinian state. At first, it consisted of everyday laborers and teachers, but quickly fell into guerilla control. Several terrorist attacks were carried out between the ‘60’s and ‘70’s against Israel. In 1967, Egypt closes the Gulf of Aqaba, Israel’s access to the Red Sea, prompting Israel to go to war against them. Israel attacks with both ground and air forces. They gain control of the Sinai Peninsula, take back Jerusalem, and get the Golan Heights and West Bank. The Suez Canal is closed. Resolution 242 is put in place to establish peace and Israel withdraws its conquests. In 1973, Egypt ambushes Israel during Yom Kippur (one of the holiest Jewish holidays); Israel pushes the Egyptian soldiers past the cease-fire lines. Resolution 348, a modified version of Resolution 242, is put into place to establish peace between the opposing parties. In 1977, President Anwar Sadat visits Jerusalem and wishes to reconcile with Israel. The following year, President Jimmy Carter invites him and Israel Prime Minister Menichem Begin to Camp David (a presidential weekend retreat) to create and sign a treaty. The Camp David Accords is formed and signed, ending 30 years of hostility between Israel and Egypt and promising the recognition of Israel as a state. In 1982, Palestinian guerillas launch an air assault on Israel; Prime Minister Ariel Sharon responds by driving the PLO out of Israel all the way to Beirut, Lebanon. Palestinian civil disobedience campaign, the intifada, is the incentive for Israel to negotiate with the Palestinians. In 1995, the Oslo Peace Accords is created and is signed by PLO chairman Yasir Arafat and Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin. Despite all of this fighting, Israel has remained a small country that lies in between the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. It is also bordered by many other Arab nations. After the collapse of the Twin Towers on September 9, 2001, the Palestinians showed their dislike for the U.S. by celebrating in the streets. Palestinians and Israelis continue to fight even into the 21st century, and there are some people who have become so accustom to the fighting that they go out everyday on a cliff to watch the explosions on both sides. As the fighting continues, the rest of the world tries to make peace between these two groups of people. Recently, peace talks were held in Jordan, but both Israel and Palestine always try to find an excuse for not talking to each other. Palestine recently said that if Israel did not stop trying to create new settlements in Jerusalem, it would stop the peace talks; Israel continued to expand. One tragic outcome from these conflicts has to do with soldier named Gilad Shalit. He was captured five years ago and finally returned home in 2011 in exchange for 1,027 Palestinian prisoners. The whole time this fighting was going on, Palestine was not an official country or state. It applied to statehood with the United Nations and has only been excepted into one committee, UNESCO. One way that the U.S. is exerting its enormous power in the UN and controlling Palestine’s fate is by saying that they will not let any resolution pass through the Security Council that makes Palestine a full official country. The U.S. is legally allowed to control the privileges of Palestine and make it so they can never have the right to vote in the most of the UN. The U.S. can not control UNESCO, but they can control the Security Council. The Israel-Palestine conflict has been going on for about six decades now, and many nations can only hope that it will end soon.